Schleswig-Holstein MSA English study guide
Schleswig-Holstein MSA English · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Mittlerer Schulabschluss (MSA) Englisch in Schleswig-Holstein is the English component of the school-leaving qualification taken at the end of lower secondary education (Sekundarstufe I). It is aimed at students in Schleswig-Holstein who are working towards the Mittlerer Schulabschluss and need to demonstrate functional competence in English across listening, reading, mediation and writing. The exam is built around four competence areas, each weighted at 25 percent: Hörverstehen (listening comprehension), Leseverstehen (reading comprehension), Sprachmittlung (mediation between German and English) and Schreiben (writing). Candidates should expect authentic, everyday and topic-based texts rather than isolated grammar drills, and tasks that require transferring meaning rather than translating word for word. The Schleswig-Holstein MSA English study guide has 4 sections and about 1,810 words.
01Hörverstehen: listening for gist and detail at B1
The Hörverstehen part of the Schleswig-Holstein MSA English exam checks whether you can follow spoken English at GER level B1: announcements, interviews, short radio reports and conversations between two or three speakers. The items and your answers are in English.
456 words, about 2 min02Leseverstehen: gist, detail and 'not in the text'
The Leseverstehen part tests reading comprehension at B1 using texts such as newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, letters, adverts and information leaflets. Typical formats are matching headings to paragraphs, multiple-choice items, true/false/"not in the text", ordering events and short answers in English.
418 words, about 2 min03Sprachmittlung: mediating German content for an English-speaking partner
Sprachmittlung (mediation) is not translation. You receive a German source text and a situation in which an English-speaking person needs specific information from it, and you pass that information on in English in the text type the task names - an email, a note, a message or a short oral summary.
439 words, about 2 min04Schreiben: task achievement, structure and register
In the Schreiben part you produce a coherent English text at B1, usually with a choice of two or three tasks. Each task gives a situation, a text type (email or letter, article for the school magazine, blog comment, report) and three or four content points that you must cover.
497 words, about 2 min